This post originally appeared on the Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children blog. In observance of National Adoption Month, Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children Development Director Audrey Eisenberg shares her perspective on making the needs of children in foster care a priority … The other night, my caseworker called to cancel our final...

SPARC Peer Learning Network member organization Massachusetts Law Reform Institute recently released a comprehensive set of recommendations for sustained reform of the Massachusetts child welfare system following a high profile death of a child under the department’s supervision. If Not Now, When? A Call to Action for Systemic Child Welfare...

Child welfare advocates are uniquely positioned to influence debates that impact the safety and well-being of our kids. SPARC is designed to help state child welfare advocates make an even bigger impact. We are proud to be supported by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative....

NACAC produced the following adoption fact sheets for the State Policy Advocacy and Reform Center (SPARC) to help inform adoption community members and adoption advocates. The fact sheets, derived mostly from 2012 AFCARS data, have information about the number of waiting children, the length of time children spend in care, the race of waiting and...

By Shadi Houshyar Today, the Senate Finance Committee is marking up legislation to allow companies to hire veterans without requiring that they be counted as full-time workers under the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) employer mandate. Senator Bob Casey will be offering an amendment that would clarify Congress’s intent with regards to states’ obligation to extend...

By Dianna Walters Yesterday, our partner in the State Policy Advocacy and Reform Center (SPARC) the, Nevada Children’s Advocacy Alliance (CAA) released its biennial 2014 Nevada Children’s Report Card. They also jointly released with the Nevada Institute for Children’s Research & Policy (NICRP) its companion report, the 2015 Legislative Briefing Book. Since 2000, the CAA...

The State Policy Advocacy and Reform Center (SPARC) was busy all year working with its partners for stronger advocates, better policies, and improved outcomes for kids. SPARC commissioned and released a number of briefs on ways we can improve outcomes for children and families involved in the child welfare system. Below are the most accessed...

By Rricha Mathur On December 3rd at the White House Tribal Nations Conference Attorney General Eric Holder boldly announced that the Department of Justice (DOJ) will be launching a new initiative to ensure compliance with the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). Under this new initiative, the DOJ pledges to actively identify state-court cases where the...